TW: Dried blood, interrogations, mildly aggressive horses.

"I was... I was coming up to tell Mr Blacksky that I'd have to cancel, emergency with my sister in London, and I wanted to get ready to go as soon as possible," The vicar mumbled quietly. "I'd been walking up to the front when I saw the doors burst open and Talyn was running through and they looked terrified."

Logan nodded. "Go on..."

James swallowed nervously. "They were running into the stables and I'm ashamed to admit th-that... I ran upon seeing the dark liquid on their hands. It caught the sun and that's how I saw it. I was too scared to hang around."

The two police were silent. Roman blinked. "You saw nothing else? Really?"

"I-I was scared!" James defended himself quickly. "I don't work with blood as much as you two, and I didn't want to be intruding on something!"

"What time was this?" Logan sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose.

James blinked. "Oh, u-um, around ten to three, I think. Yes, ten to three, pretty much."

Roman looked like he was about to press James for more information but Logan gently tapped his hand, cutting him off. "Thank you, Mr Banning. And would you stand by this story, in court, if something is uncovered soon?"

The quivering man finally grew a spine and he nodded, with a determined face. "I may like Talyn, but if they have gone against God, it'll have to be done."

Logan nodded. "How quaint, Mr Banning. But, if you have nothing else to give us, we shall go." He stood, nodding to Roman and his friend jumped obediently to his feet, grabbing the recording device and turning it off. "Oh, and Banning," Logan said as they began to leave. "If we find out anything you hid from us, we'll be back. And you won't have enough time to make yourself a cup of tea before the interrogation."

The tone in his voice was enough to make the vicar whimper and Roman swallowed down a smile until they were out of the man's' garden.

"You're scary, sometimes, you know," Snickered Roman, still attempting to keep back the grin.

Logan smirked. "You learn to be."

Patton was still sitting in the Bentley when they finally got back to him, tapping away on his phone. Roman knocked on the window, getting his attention, and Patton quickly unlocked the car for them.

"You were pretty fast!" He chirped. "Got any good info?"

Roman nodded, manoeuvring his way into the backseat. "We did, actually. Right, Logan?"

"I'd say so," Logan agreed with a hint of a smile on his face.

Patton nodded, his smile wavering a little as he put away his phone and gripped the steering wheel so tight his knuckles went white. "D-Do you know who it is?"

Before Logan could say anything insensitive, Roman casually said, "We've got a hunch. But no, we're not sure."

"Right," Patton nodded, lowering his gaze a little before perking his head up again and driving down the road to loop back round to the manor.

~'^'~

"Hey, Talyn," Roman called from behind them, making them jolt away from Emily, whose hair they'd been brushing. "We've got a few questions."

They paled quickly. "I-I'm sorry, I'm busy-" They tried, but Logan shook his head.

"I'm sure it can wait. On the day of Ali's' murder, we've heard that you were seen. With more than incriminating behaviour," Logan said calmly.

Patton, who'd been standing behind them, widened his eyes as he locked up the Bentley. "Wha?"

"I don't know what you mean," Whispered Talyn fearfully.

Roman narrowed his eyes. "Don't play dumb. We've got a witness claiming they saw blood on your hands on the afternoon of the murder which you seemed quite desperate to wash over."

"Tell us, Talyn," Logan smoothly continued. "What exactly were you doing at ten to three, after Blacksky's' death?"

Talyn, breathing heavily, fumbled backwards into Emily and the mare snorted. "I was feeding the horses!"

"They were!" Patton agreed. "I saw them in the stables-! Oh, look, you're terrifying them!" He shouldered past the detectives, putting his hands on Talyn's' skinny shoulders and cradling them close. He gently led them inside, shooting Roman and Logan a glare over his shoulders while murmuring words of comfort in Talyn's' ear.

The large oak door swung shut and Logan gently nudged his way past Emily to get to the horse's' trough. Wincing, and promising himself to wash his hands thoroughly, he stuck his hand into it, rummaging around the murky water.

"Logan, what the hell?" Roman hissed. "You're gonna stink!"

"There was no murder weapon in the room Blacksky was killed in," Declared Logan, and Roman quickly latched onto his train of thought. "Talyn must've hidden it somewhere, they're one on the only people who deal with the horses."

Roman almost began to look just as recklessly before hesitating. After a good solid minute of weighing the pros and cons, he began to shift through the hay bales and checked behind the stalls. There was nothing in Emily's' stable and nothing in the foal's' either. Then it came to the stallions'.

His name was Cassidy, as was engraved above his stall, and his little eyes were wide and he snorted at them menacingly.

"Nice horsey," Roman whispered, raising his hands up nervously, but Cassidy only whinnied angrily.

Logan arched an eyebrow. "He's behaving aggressively."

"He used to belong to my brother," The Master of the House said from behind them. Virgil walked up in between them, reaching his hand out to the stallion only to quickly draw it back when it neighed loudly. He frowned. "He's usually quite well-behaved..."

Roman swallowed ad said, in a lighter voice than usual, "Maybe he can smell something odd. Or we're off-putting him."

Virgil shrugged. "Honestly, I blame Ali. He probably did some shit and fucked him up. Poor Cassy."

"Do you think you can get us in his stables?" Logan asked.

Instantly, Virgil shot him a suspicious look. "Why? You're not going to find any wills in there, Croft."

"We're not looking for wills," Logan replied, knowing full well that he had already seen them. "We're looking for something a little more important."

Before Virgil could deny, Roman quickly swooped in. "Please, Virge? We'll be in and out, probably won't even find what we're looking for." He brushed his fingers against the back of the other's' hand with an award-winning smile on his face. "Please?"

"Alright, fine." Huffed Virgil, a small glint of colour in his cheeks as he pulled his hand away jerkily. "We should be gone for an hour." And he opened the stall's' gates, gently coaxing out Cassidy and guiding him to the opposite side of the courtyard, where saddle blankets, reigns and the like were lined up for use.

"You know," Commented Logan, quietly. "I think your whole, 'Let's seduce one of the murder suspects' plan is slightly working, no matter how extra it is."

"Never say extra again, please. It really doesn't suit you."

As Virgil reluctantly rode off, Logan and Roman streamed in and began to search.

After a good fifteen minutes of searching, Logan made an odd noise, something in between a laugh and an exclamation of surprise. Roman rushed over and they stared down at a splotch of rusty red ground circling beneath a fat, brass candlestick. It was thick and large and long, a thin, worn base made of velvet to prevent scratching. The top was stained with long dried blood. 

The murder weapon had been found.

Roman reached into his pockets to get a pair of plastic gloves and Logan fumbled eagerly with his phone, calling Archie instantly.

"Logan, what-?"

"We found the weapon," Logan interrupted rapidly. "Large, heavy, brass candlestick., Practically drenched in blood, hidden in a horse's' stable."

There was a brief moment of silence on the other line. "Do you know who did it?"

"Yes, we do," Logan assured, watching Roman drop the item into a plastic bag. "We'll send it to you for fingerprints and DNA tests tonight."

"And then?"

Logan smiled, accomplishment rising in his chest. "And then, when the results are back, we'll have the murderer."